Witnesses reveal details of events on February 26 in Chiygoz case

The three witnesses, who were heard on May 24, told about several buses with pro-Russian protesters who committed provocations on February 26.

SIMFEROPOL/AQMESCIT (QHA) -

The Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Akhtem Chiygoz, who has been kept in remand prison on a fabricated charge for two years, did not call people to violence at the rally on February 26, 2014 in front of the building of the Supreme Council of Crimea.

One of the witnesses in the “Chiygoz case” made a corresponding statement at the 118th court hearing, the lawyer Nikolai Polozov reported.
On May 24 Enver Ablyametovich Alyadinov was the first witness of the defense. He said that on February 25, 2014, on ATR channel he saw a message about a rally in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine near the building of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The witness saw Akhtem Chiygoz and Refat Chubarov there:

“Refat Chubarov left after his speech, and after a while the witness heard someone shout “buses!”. The witness approached the right side and saw at least 6-7 red “Ikarus” buses and people, mostly strong men with Russian flags, came out from buses.” In total, about 200 people gathered there, they lined up in a column and headed for the “courtyard” to the “pro-Russian” protesters. After that, the “pro-Russian” protesters began to behave aggressively, tried to push out “pro-Ukrainian” protesters from the courtyard. A human crush occured. Plastic bottles with water and other items were thrown from the “pro-Russian” protesters side. The witness saw someone from the side of the “pro-Russian” protesters throwing the rod of the armature that smashed head of one of the “pro-Ukrainian” protesters. He also saw that sporadic skirmishes occurring time after time along the contact line between the protesters”.

According the witness testimony, Akhtem Chiygoz and other members of the Mejlis called people to calm.
The lawyer reported that Server Anvarovich Fakhriev was the second witness of the defense:

“At first, the protesters behaved relatively calmly, the witness heard chanting of slogans. Then the “pro-Russian” protesters began to insult and provoke “pro-Ukrainian” participants. The witness saw Smirnov, Akhtem Chiygoz and other members of the Mejlis calling not to succumb to provocations. Somewhat later, a column of at least 100 people joined the “pro-Russian” protesters. People in crowd said that the column came from Sevastopol. “Pro-Russian” protesters began to behave more active and aggressively after the arrival of “Sevastopol inhabitants”.

Ibrahim Vitovich Muslyadinov was the third questioned on May 24:

“I saw Akhtem Chiygoz calling people not to panic. He did not see or hear that Akhtem Chiygoz called for violence or demonstrated gestures that could encourage people to unleash violence”.

Earlier QHA reported that Polozov noted that the non-violent struggle of the Crimean Tatar people for their rights particularly irritates Russia.

Reference. Akhtem Chiygoz was detained in January 2015 in the Crimea, on accusations of organizing and participating in mass riots on February 26, 2014. Then, outside the building of the Supreme Council of Crimea, a rally was held in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. He has been detained for more than two years in the remand prison.